Chapter 5: Birthday

The five days had passed and Hayan-Sek had come up with a plan. First, he would personally clean his clothes at the best of his abilities (hoping that none of the nobles would be too offended) and, as a gift, Hayan-Sek had written a poem that praised Kan Kyo-Ga and wished him the a long and happy future, which, when he gave to his teacher to make revisions, was praised by Teacher Shi-Kyu although Hayan-Sek still thought that it was going to get rejected, but he didn't voice this thought.

When the day of the birthday arrived, the morning and afternoon seemed to pass off in a blur and, when it was night, Hayan-Sek was going to start with his plan, but, instead of going to his room, he was escorted to a spacious, lavish room which had a giant pool of water in the middle. Hayan-Sek was awestruck until one of the escorts said, "This room is only used by General Kan Soo-Jin and his family, but General Kan Soo-Jin has decided to make an exception with you."

Hayan-Sek nodded, took off his clothes and the metal 'arm', and entered the giant pool of water. At first, Hayan-Sek was surprised at the warm temperature of the water, but, after a few minutes, Hayan-Sek felt happy and comfortable in the warm water until he remembered the birthday party he needed to attend. So, he quickly submerged in the warm water hoping that all of the dirt in his body would somehow disappear and, after submerging for a few more times, he felt as if all the dirt had vanished but, when he saw all of the escorts, he saw that they had a worried expression on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"You have scars on your back. When did you get hurt?" One of the escorts asked with a worried tone in his voice.

"I didn't even realize that I had scars. But, I think that they are from the time before I came here." Hayan-Sek confessed.

The escort nodded, then, while Hayan-Sek was getting out of the giant pool of water, another escort, who was holding expensive towels, gave the towels to Hayan-Sek, who quickly tried to wrap himself with the towels, but it proved difficult for him, so another escort asked if he could help to which Hayan-Sek quickly nodded. After helping, Hayan-Sek thanked the escort and another escort told him that they needed to head to his (Hayan-Sek's) room.

"Why?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"We had received orders that there is something important in your room." The escort nodded.

Hayan-Sek nodded and he along with the rest of the escorts headed to his room where he saw that there were clothes on top of his bedroom, but, upon having a better look at the clothes, Hayan-Sek realized that the clothes strongly resembled the clothes worn by the nobles and, at first, Hayan-Sek thought this was some sort of mistake until one of the escorts confirmed that there was no mistake. So, with the help of the escorts, Hayan-Sek was able to put on the clothes, but, when it came to his right arm, Hayan-Sek was surprised that one of the escorts asked, "Is it possible for you to make your arm smaller?"

"Yes." Hayan-Sek said and tried to do it which ended in his right arm being slightly larger than his left arm.

Hayan-Sek felt ashamed, but the escort told him that there was nothing wrong with it. That is when Hayan-Sek realized that the right sleeve was longer than the left sleeve and soon the escort began to gently wrap the right sleeve around Hayan-Sek's right arm, therefore it would cover the right arm from prying eyes. After the escort finished hiding Hayan-Sek's right arm, one of the escorts gently styled Hayan-Sek's hair in a bun which helped Hayan-Sek realized that, after the birthday, he should cut his hair.

"Thank you." Hayan-Sek said to the escorts who were helping him. In response, the surprised escorts bowed their heads as a sign of appreciation.

Because Hayan-Sek was living in a private quarter inside the palace, it didn't take long for him and the escorts to reach the main room where the birthday was taking place. Upon arriving there, Hayan-Sek was awestruck at the amount of wealth displayed in front of him; it was as if he had just entered another world, thus, when he looked at what he was wearing and the poem that he had quickly grabbed before he exited the private quarter, he felt ashamed and out of place, yet, after all the work the escorts had done, he didn't want to make them feel bad, so he put up a happy façade.

"We should get going." One of the escorts informed Hayan-Sek, who realized that the escorts were waiting for him to stop being so awestruck by the palace. So, Hayan-Sek nodded and they began to walk to a well-hidden seat, but, during the walk Hayan-Sek, realized that the escorts were covering him from everyone's sight. But, he didn't question it because who would want to see a deformed child casually walking in the palace?

When they reached the seat, he was the only one who was seated. When he realized this, Hayan-Sek asked why the escorts didn't have chairs to which one escort said, "We don't need chairs."

"Then, I don't need it either." Hayan-Sek said. Then, he stood up to which another escort tried to persuade to sit down because the birthday was going to be very long.

"You're going to stand during the whole party, so why can't I do the same?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"We received orders from General Kan Soo-Jin that you should be seated." An escort replied.

"In that case, I'll have to talk to him because I'll sit down if the rest of you have chairs." Hayan-Sek said which both surprised and scared the escorts.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible because General Kan Soo-Jin is busy at the moment." An escort said.

"What is he busy with?" Hayan-Sek said to which an escort responded by pointing at an elaborate throne which has other smaller, yet elaborate thrones beside it. Then, the escort pointed at a door made from gold.

"General Kan Soo-Jin and his family are getting ready." The escort said.

"But why is it so important?" Hayan-Sek asked.

"Do you see the wealth displayed here?" An escort asked.

Hayan-Sek nodded.

"For the nobles here, this is just a fact of their daily lives and, after seeing the amount of wealth that they and other nobles have, General Kan Soo-Jin and his family must show them that they have more riches and importance than them." After the escort said that, music was heard and it announced that General Kan Soo-Jin and his family where going to come in, but to Hayan-Sek the music sounded as if it was announcing the coming of an enemy.

When General Kan Soo-Jin and his family entered the main room, Hayan-Sek was again awestruck because the clothes looked as if they were made from gold, silver, and other kinds of precious minerals he could think of. Thus, General Kan Soo-Jin and his family looked as if they were gods who descended from Heaven. Then, Hayan-Sek realized that the escorts and nobles were bowing, so Hayan-Sek did that while hoping that no one realized his earlier mistake.

Everybody was bowing until General Kan Soo-Jin ordered them to stop, then he thanked everybody for coming and made a short speech reminding everyone of the importance of the Emperor, the Emperor's family, General Kan Soo-Jin's family and the Fire Tribe as a whole. Then, the party began with a play composed by actors from a distant land that Hayan-Sek didn't know about. And the play was about the last battle King Hiryuu and the Dragons had before Kouka was established. One might think that last battle was against an army, but the last battle was against one man, Hong Se-Chan, who was renowned for being the only one who could fight against King Hiryuu and the Dragons, and either won or ended the fight in a stalemate; never a loss. And, the battle took place in the room were everyone currently was, the only difference was that back then that room was on fire and, according to some historical records and songs, the flames appeared to reach the sky.

Author's Note

Sorry for taking so long and I hope everyone likes this. Also, don't forget to RSS!